Eyebrow-raising comedian/actor Eddie Izzard has a well-earned reputation as a high energy performer, but this is ridiculous!

It was just reported that Izzard will power the London Eye, a huge ferris wheel/tourist attraction on the banks of the Thames River. He’ll juice the ride for three hours by running on an electricity-generating treadmill.

The stunt is an effort to raise awareness for his Sports Relief charity donations, for which he recently raised copious cash by running 43 marathons in 51 days.

It’s also a statement about the attraction’s carbon footprint. “We couldn’t think of a better way for the London Eye to save energy…” said an executive for the London Eye. “And by helping charity in the process is a bonus. We could be on the brink of an energy revolution. If all our nation’s stand-up comedians ran a mile for every joke they told we could ensure the future for our children is a bright one.”

It’s a great news day for all you literate, comedy-loving fans. Respected comics Steve Martin and Eddie Izzard are both signed up to release books to be published this year. Details below!

Comedian Eddie Izzard is slated to release a book in September chronicling his 1,100-mile run across Great Britain, reports Chortle. The book captures Izzard’s reactions to the innumerable cities he has visited during his 43-consecutive marathon career.

Publishers Little, Brown ultimately won the publication rights to Izzard’s forthcoming work after an intense auction period with several publishers. The book promises to capture personal and comical descriptions of Great Britain and Izzard’s own personal experiences in the cities of his past. Izzard has run in 43 marathons with the help of a tour manager, a sports therapist and, of course, an ice cream that would hand out free ice cream to all his supporters throughout his journey. Why not?

Check out a video below of Izzard discussing the 1,100-mile run.

Meanwhile, Martin is set to release not one, but two books in 2010! The first book will be a children’s novel entitled Late For School, based on a song from his Grammy-nominated bluegrass album New Songs for the 5-String Banjo.

The second book will be an adult novel entitled Woman One, which “examines the glamour and subterfuge of the fine art world” in New York. Both works will be published by Grand Central Publishing. Martin has previously released two tremendous works including Shopgirl and what will certainly become part of the non-fiction comedy canon, his memoir Born Standing Up. Like Izzard, these books are slated for release in September.

Eddie Izzard, always the man with the plan (even if that plan does include knee-high fishnets), is thinking of setting up his own comedy festival. Crafted in the manner of the millions of musical festivals that dot the cultural landscape, this idea was perpetuated by Izzard’s concern that comedians may be getting shortchanged when relagated to tents at outdoor, music-centered fests; and thus, wants to make the world safe for the funnymen and women out there.

On DigitalSpy.com, Izzard said: “I think comedy has to be separate from music festivals. I want us to do comedy festivals. Because it’s a ‘mind’ gig, and at music festivals everyone’s completely off their faces so if and when they come to the comedy tent, we’re always a poor relation.

“You never get good fees at the festivals because it’s all about the music, which is great but comedy should have its own. That’s what I want to get out and do.”

South by Southwest in Austin, TX, Bonaroo in Manchester, TN, All Points West in Jersey City, NJ are a few of the music fests that currently incorporate comedy into their programming, the latter two in outdoor settings. There’s more and more comedy-dedicated festivals launching each year, so that’s always a good thing. But each year, it seems comedy is added to outdoor music festivals as well. What do you think? Is it a good idea? Should there be outdoor comedy festivals just for comedy? Let us know in the comments section.

Comedy DVDs are hopping across the pond, as post-Xmas returns indicate that sales of live comedy films spiked way up in the UK gift-giving season. Releases from comedians like Eddie Izzard, Michael McIntyre, and Russell Howard all saw a 38% spike in sales, as relative to figures from last year’s holiday shopping season; a possible indication that the flailing DVD industry may be tossed a life line after all.

Could this be the cannonball that effectively sinks pirate downloading? Er, maybe not, but we’re still pumped to see some of our favorite Brit funny faces reaping the returns they deserve. Cheers, boys and girls.

Eddie Izzard says there's nothing wrong with performing stand-up comedy in arenas.

In a new interview on WalesOnline, Eddie Izzard, in addition to asking us in the States to please believe that he’s a transvestite – despite his many manly roles in Hollywood the last few years – defends his decision to perform stand-up comedy in large arenas, as opposed to more intimate venues. Many comedy purists believe that stand-up comedy should always be presented in a room with no more than 300 to 350 seats, with excellent sight lines all around and where you can see the beads of sweat form on the comics brows.

Others, however, feel that there’s nothing wrong with “rock ‘n roll” comedy, wherein a comedian has a big enough audience to fill arenas, where, there’s a good chance a large percentage of the crowd will be watching most of the show on big screens flanking a giant stage, not unlike what you might see at a Dane Cook or Larry the Cable Guy show.

Izzard defends arena comedy thusly:

Six years ago, I did the first arena tour of the UK and that was a little scary because I didn’t know what I would be dealing with. People will say it’s not intimate, but … if people don’t want to watch it there, then don’t watch it there. But I definitely think it’s a good thing. It makes it more of an event. And why should rock and roll get all the arena shows? If you think of the first ever arena gig, when The Beatles did Shea Stadium in 1965, it was a crap gig. Great band, great event but a crap gig because you couldn’t hear anything.

People have had to learn how to play stadium gigs in music. And comedy has to go through the same thing, we just have to work out how to play arenas. No-one bats an eyelid when bands play arenas and if it’s a good thing for bands it’s a good thing for comedy.

So what do you think? Can stand-up comedy be performed effectively at an arena? Have you ever been to an arena comedy show? Did it suck? Was it awesome? Please share all of your experiences in the comments section.

Eddie Izzard, one of England’s biggest comedy imports of all time, will be the subject of a documentary about his rise to fame. The movie, Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story will likely be released on DVD in January.

Before that, however, it will be screened this weekend in London and then in New York City the following week. Chortle reports “The film uses home videos and archive footage to chart Izzard’s early influences and career progression, touching on subjects such as losing his mother to cancer at a young age, trying his luck as a street entertainer at the Edinburgh Fringe and performing onstage as a transvestite.”

Check out the trailer below.

A Scottish band once had a hit about walking 500 miles. Leave it to an English comedian to run 1,000.

Eddie Izzard will be running 30 miles a day for seven weeks, circling the UK, to raise money for Sport Relief – a biennial charity from Comic Relief that aids the world’s poor. He started Monday.

“I think some people are going: ‘Who is this idiot, get out of the way,’ but the majority of people are honking their horns to say hello,” said Izzard.

Follow Izzard on Twitter to get frequent updates about his journey.